# Is prescription medication sharing illegal if both parties have a prescription?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prescription-medication-sharing-illegal-if-both-parties-have-a-prescription/669958>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 29, 2013, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prescription-medication-sharing-illegal-if-both-parties-have-a-prescription/669958 "2013-09-29T22:36:27Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 14\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![JayRx1981](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/71e660/32.png) [@JayRx1981](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JayRx1981)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prescription-medication-sharing-illegal-if-both-parties-have-a-prescription/669958/21 "2013-10-01T14:28:43Z")

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> [@WhyNot](#):
>
> Let’s assume non narcotics for the moment, and that neither person is a medical professional.
> 
> Alice and Betty both have valid, current prescriptions for Albuterol inhalers. Same medication, same dose, same route, etc. They’ve compared them carefully, and they’re absolutely identical.
> 
> Alice’s inhaler runs out and she needs a new one, but doesn’t get paid for two weeks. Can Betty legally give Alice one of her inhalers?

1. I am not a lawyer.

2. I am a pharmacist licensed to practice in only one jurisdiction–Ohio. As such, I am not your pharmacist (probably) and what I say technically only applies in Ohio.

Under Ohio law, no, Betty cannot legally give Alice one of her inhalers. I reference you to the Ohio Revised Code, [4729.01](http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/4729.01):

Section (F) defines Dangerous Drug as

(1) Any drug to which either of the following applies:

(a) Under the “Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act,” 52 Stat. 1040 (1938), 21 U.S.C.A. 301, as amended, the drug is required to bear a label containing the legend “Caution: Federal law prohibits dispensing without prescription” or “Caution: Federal law restricts this drug to use by or on the order of a licensed veterinarian” or any similar restrictive statement, or the drug may be dispensed only upon a prescription;

(b) Under Chapter 3715. or 3719. of the Revised Code, the drug may be dispensed only upon a prescription.

Basically, what Hirka calls a legend drug in his post (strictly speaking, I’m ignoring (F)(2) and (F)(3) as they aren’t really relevant to this particular question, though still fall under the definition of a Dangerous Drug).

Following that, we have Section (H) which states:

(H) “Prescription” means a written, electronic, or oral order for drugs or combinations or mixtures of drugs to be used by a particular individual or for treating a particular animal, issued by a licensed health professional authorized to prescribe drugs.

I added an underline to the part likely most relevant under Ohio law.

Strictly speaking, Betty’s prescription for an albuterol inhaler is only legally valid as a prescription item FOR Betty. It is, under Ohio law, entirely irrelevant if Alice also possesses a prescription for an albuterol inhaler.

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**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prescription-medication-sharing-illegal-if-both-parties-have-a-prescription/669958/22 "2013-10-01T14:52:03Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> If you go on vacation and pour Mr. and Mrs. Seldon’s pills into the same pillbox for convenience, are they committing a crime if Hari happens to take one of the pills that came from his wife’s bottle?

A crime against Darwin for sure. And a technical legal violation as well, as others have detailed.  
If they truly are identical duplicates, the exact same item, then there’s relatively little risk to the patients.  
The only way anybody is going to find out is if there’s a problem and somebody needs medical care. If that were to happen, there could be legal involvement.

In the specific case of a used inhaler:

1. icky
2. I do think they have stamped lot numbers at least. Law enforcement ‘could’ verify that somebody did or did not buy an item from a specific lot.

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**Author:** ![JayRx1981](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/71e660/32.png) [@JayRx1981](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JayRx1981)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prescription-medication-sharing-illegal-if-both-parties-have-a-prescription/669958/23 "2013-10-01T15:03:49Z")

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> [@choie](#):
>
> Nope, not necessarily. While all medications available over-the-counter without a prescription are not considered [controlled](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controlled_substance) (i.e. strictly regulated by the government, and this includes both illegal and legal medications), many “not-controlled” medications still require a prescription. (BTW I’m talking in the U.S. Countries obviously differ.)

Non-controlled medications which require a prescription are either called Legend Drugs or also, in my state, Dangerous Drugs.

> [@](#):
>
> Controlled substances are divided into “schedules.” A Schedule I controlled substance is one that the DEA considers without any accepted medical use and a high probability of abuse. LSD, heroin, marijuana, and ecstasy are examples.

Humorously (to me, at least), while Marijuana is a Schedule 1 drug, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, if manufactured completely synthetically, is a schedule III [orphan drug](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orphan_drug) under the name [Dronabinol (brand Marinol)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dronabinol#Marinol) in the United States. I’ve been trying to wrap my head around that concept for over a decade now.

> [@](#):
>
> Schedule III controlled substances have medical uses and are of moderate risk for abuse/addiction, and many are combos that include either hydrocodone or codeine.

Although, it’s worth noting (IMO) that Codeine and Hydrocodone by themselves are considered to be Schedule II drugs under Ohio law (3719.41, (II)(1)(g) and (j)) and Federal law (Title 21 CFR, Part 1308.12, (b)(1)(i) and (vi)) when NOT paired with a non-narcotic agent (ie, Guiafenesin, Homatropine, Acetaminophen, or Ibuprofen). When paired with one of these agents, the medications generally take on schedule III or V classification.

> [@](#):
>
> In my experience, medications that fall in the “controlled substances” schedules have always been non-refillable and require a doctor’s authorization and a new prescription. Those that don’t are usually refillable (depending on your doctor, the medication, and whatever’s being treated, obviously).
> 
> Just clearing stuff up. Sorry, nothing to do with the OP.

Depends on state law, honestly. Medications in Schedule II, under Ohio and Federal law, cannot be refilled and must have a new prescription each month (although doctors can write 3 separate prescriptions at one visit, so long as they date the 2nd and 3rd as to when they can be filled). Medications in Schedule III and IV can be refilled, but only up to 5 refills or 6 months total, whichever happens first, under Ohio law (and given that state law can only _technically_ pre-empt federal law if state law is stricter–medical marijuana laws notwithstanding–federal law as well).

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**Author:** ![JayRx1981](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/71e660/32.png) [@JayRx1981](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JayRx1981)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prescription-medication-sharing-illegal-if-both-parties-have-a-prescription/669958/24 "2013-10-01T15:46:25Z")

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> [@aNewLeaf](#):
>
> A crime against Darwin for sure. And a technical legal violation as well, as others have detailed.  
> If they truly are identical duplicates, the exact same item, then there’s relatively little risk to the patients.  
> The only way anybody is going to find out is if there’s a problem and somebody needs medical care. If that were to happen, there could be legal involvement.

Outside of allergy/intolerance to specific excipients, if Person A’s generic/brand drug differed from person B’s generic/brand drug in some/all excipients but matched AA/AB rating, then really, little risk goes down to practically no risk, IME.

> [@](#):
>
> In the specific case of a used inhaler:
> 
> 1. icky

Assuming the inhaler is properly maintained/primed, which would you rather have–risk of infection via a saliva-borne pathogen, or death from an asthma attack not treated quickly enough?

Years ago, I regularly interacted with an RA from my dorm at one University. Mere months after meeting him, he had an asthma attack in a bar/club (prior to Ohio’s smoking ban). He had no health insurance and therefore hadn’t seen a doctor to get a rescue inhaler, and died within 15-30 minutes of the start of his asthma attack (smoke related, based on the report we later read), in his truck outside of the club in question. From the reports of a mutual friend who later went to check up on him, he apparently had an OTC primatene inhaler in his possession. EMT services were called, but well before they arrived it was already too late.

Quite frankly, if some individual had the ability to give/share his inhaler with my RA at that moment, potentially saving his life, then my stance is _ **BLEEP** _ the law.

> [@](#):
>
> 1. I do think they have stamped lot numbers at least. Law enforcement ‘could’ verify that somebody did or did not buy an item from a specific lot.

Not easily. Most likely not enought to satisfy the legal requirement of “beyond a reasonable doubt” absent any other evidence/testimony in a criminal case. Speaking again only from my experience/State, we don’t actually have to document which specific lot/expiration goes out when we dispense to any given patient. We must make sure the product going out is in date or has not been recalled already, but as far as drug recalls go, we generally have to contact EVERYBODY given the drug in question over a particular span of time if it’s a Class I recall because our systems don’t generally track Lot/Expiration for each individual fill.

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**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prescription-medication-sharing-illegal-if-both-parties-have-a-prescription/669958/25 "2013-10-01T16:41:24Z")

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Thank you, JayRx1981. That’s exactly the kind of GQ answer I was hoping for.

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**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prescription-medication-sharing-illegal-if-both-parties-have-a-prescription/669958/26 "2013-10-01T17:45:47Z")

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Apropos of nothing, a friend’s son was having an asthma attack and didn’t have his inhaler. I happened to have my daughter’s inhaler and let him use it. The son’s father was a judge. I was not prosecuted.

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**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prescription-medication-sharing-illegal-if-both-parties-have-a-prescription/669958/27 "2013-10-01T20:08:35Z")

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> [@aNewLeaf](#):
>
> A crime against Darwin for sure. And a technical legal violation as well, as others have detailed.  
> …

In this case, the couples had identical prescriptions. The pills are identical. Pouring them into one bottle only means that Mr. may take Mrs.’ pills while she perhaps takes his. There’s no way to tell.

Just as, I presume, inhalers are pretty much the same thing?

_“If a tree falls in the forest but nobody hears it… is it a crime?”_

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prescription-medication-sharing-illegal-if-both-parties-have-a-prescription/669958/28 "2013-10-01T20:19:30Z")

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Agreed in the case of the pills it’s a mere technical violation and not anything one could realistically catch trouble for.  
Unless… there’s trouble. People routinely make errors in describing their medications to new doctors.  
It’s not at all uncommon for a medical provider to say “bring in all your meds, I want to look at them”.

Same is true of inhalers, though like I said I think there’s a stamped batch number. Pills have a batch number too, but it’s on the original package.  
If your pills come individually sealed in blister packs, there certainly is a stamped lot number.  
So, yes, a determined prosecutor could prove those were the wrong pills, even if dosage and all else was right.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prescription-medication-sharing-illegal-if-both-parties-have-a-prescription/669958/29 "2013-10-01T20:45:32Z")

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> [@aNewLeaf](#):
>
> Agreed in the case of the pills it’s a mere technical violation and not anything one could realistically catch trouble for.

Since the OP has been answered, I will add that there’s one time when this is a Big Huge Deal, and that’s in nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities. I can’t remember which one, but one of my nursing websites/newgroups/blogs/something like that had a story within the last month about an RN who got in a heaping helping of trouble for “borrowing” one patient’s medication to give to another, who was admitted overnight while the pharmacy was closed. It’s done all. the. time., and in fact her supervisor gave her a verbal instruction to do it, but in this case the wrong person found out about it and bad things happened to the nurse.

Really, they’re in a no win situation. If you don’t give the med because you don’t have their bottle yet, you can get in trouble. If you give them the right med, right dose, right route, etc. from the wrong bottle, you can get in trouble. So what the heck is a nurse supposed to do and keep everything clean? There were no good answers.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prescription-medication-sharing-illegal-if-both-parties-have-a-prescription/669958/30 "2013-10-01T21:00:17Z")

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What a nurse is supposed to do in that situation is document whatever the M.D. says to do, then try to do that. With a witness who is willing to sign off on what happened.

What actually happens is what you describe.  
Medication errors are distressingly common when there are safety checks in place.  
Dispensing meds on your own, with no safety checks, is risky for yourself and your patient.

I saw a baby \*die \*because of a medication error that involved a doctor, a pharmacist, a tech, and another pharmacist. (And then a nurse administered the fatal dose. ☹ )  
Med errors are a serious threat, and all that useless paperwork is there to save lives.

Alright, that’s enough Straight Dope for me. See y’all tomorrow! 🙂

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\
**Post date:** [October 5, 2013, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prescription-medication-sharing-illegal-if-both-parties-have-a-prescription/669958/31 "2013-10-05T06:30:42Z")

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Really, Dopers?

Even a proclaimed Pharmacist?

I expect better.

stat·ute  
ˈstaCHo͞ot/  
noun  
noun: statute; plural noun: statutes

```
1.
a written law passed by a legislative body.

```

…versus:  
stat·ue  
ˈstaCHo͞o/  
noun  
noun: statue; plural noun: statues

```
1.
a carved or cast figure of a person or animal, esp. one that is life-size or larger.

```

If someone REALLY wanted to raise a stink, I’m sure they would be able to find a \*\*\*statue \*\*\*to charge someone under, maybe the Statue of Liberty.

Geesh

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**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\
**Post date:** [October 20, 2013, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prescription-medication-sharing-illegal-if-both-parties-have-a-prescription/669958/32 "2013-10-20T00:01:44Z")

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Bumping this because of a link that was in this week’s “This is True,” talking about a case ten years ago in Texas where a kid was arrested and expelled from school for sharing his albuterol inhaler with his girlfriend who also had a prescription for an albuterol inhaler but who had forgotten hers. It say the charges were dropped, but he may have still been expelled from school…

[Don’t Try This at Home](http://www.thisistrue.com/don_rsquo_t_try_this_at_home_8832.html)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\
**Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prescription-medication-sharing-illegal-if-both-parties-have-a-prescription/669958/34 "2013-11-26T01:41:31Z")

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Reported.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\
**Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prescription-medication-sharing-illegal-if-both-parties-have-a-prescription/669958/35 "2013-11-26T02:00:36Z")

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> [@chorpler](#):
>
> Reported.

Thanks!

Although that was a valiant attempt at making spam relevant to the thread, wasn’t it? Well done, spammer. Buh-bye.

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